Families evicted from Colville house now living at motel

All of the families left homeless after the city condemned a George Street apartment building on Thursday owned by out-of-town landlord David Colville have been placed temporarily in a Dartmouth motel.

All of the families left homeless after the city condemned a George Street apartment building on Thursday owned by out-of-town landlord David Colville have been placed temporarily in a Dartmouth motel.

Michael Dion, the executive director of the Community Development Agency, said eight families and a single person have been put up at the Capri Motel.

A total of 31 tenants — including 11 children ranging from ages 16 to a seven-week old infant — were evicted.

While all of the residents managed to get transportation to the motel after having only hours to remove necessary belongings, Dion said he hopes to deliver bus passes as soon as possible for those who don’t own vehicles.

A number of families have already reached out to social services agencies, Dion said, and his goal for Monday is to start working with landlords and Catholic Social Services to find the displaced families new housing as soon as possible.

On Friday, residents were allowed in to continue to move out their belongings.

This is the third time CDA has been called upon to help residents displaced after Colville’s properties were shuttered by the city since June, with nearly 100 people made homeless by the closings.

On Thursday, the nine unit triple-decker at 183 George St. was cited for carbon monoxide leaking from hot water heaters in the basement that were not properly vented. The rear fire escape was rotted through and had missing steps. Raw sewage also leaked into the basement, and a main support beam was deemed unstable.

Mayor Will Flanagan called it a “death trap,” and said he would send Colville’s case to the Fall River Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit to investigate whether the landlord violated any child endangerment laws because children were living in dangerous conditions in the George Street building and another on County Street.

In June, two nuisance buildings owned by Colville on the County Street property left 41 people homeless, and in July city inspectors found numerous health code violations at a rooming house on Spring Street.

The Fall River Licensing Board revoked Colville’s lodging house license the same week. There were numerous men and women displaced days later when the city shut down the building with a reputation of criminal activity and multiple police calls.

As for the George Street residents, Dion hopes to get most of the people in safe housing and needed services.

“Hopefully by the end of the week there will be a light at the end of the tunnel,” Dion said.